Explains how international development projects shaped and often distorted organizational aspects of the Liberian education system from 1972 to 1985. Examines the fragmenting effects of policy conflicts among and within development agencies, of the typical structure of educational development projects, and of competition for funds. Contains 42…

Identifies the main educational issues in Africa today as stagnation of enrollments and erosion of quality. Outlines policy strategies involving adjustment to demographic and fiscal realities, revitalization of the educational infrastructure, and selective expansion of services. Discusses the role of the international donor community. (SV)

Criticizes the World Bank report for (1) its neglect of African educational research; (2) recommended input-focused monitorial strategies to improve schooling that ignore curriculum and instructional issues; and (3) recommended cost-sharing and cost-recovery measures that finance qualitative improvements but erode quantitative gains in equitable…

Comments on World Bank report. Emphasizes the importance of raising teacher morale and motivation, providing primary education to the most deprived groups, and continuing technical and managerial training needed for Africa's development. Disagrees with the Bank's view that decentralization and school autonomy would improve administrative…

Examines the creation of educational texts modeled from electronically stored logical papers that provide content in various forms including multimedia, hypertext, and hypermedia. Considers implications of logical papers for teachers, learners, and educational institutions based on the literature on reading and writing physical pages, including…

Describes the difference between mediation and "mediatisation." Suggests the need for a paradigm shift away from the computational model of knowledge as pure information processing and task-centered problem solving to a more contextualist, sociointeractional, constructivist, user-centered model of cognition. (Author/AEF)

Reviews current criticisms of World Bank educational projects and their negative impacts on developing nations as context for a book that traces the evolution of Bank policies from its first projects in the 1960s to the present. (SV)

Reviews the history and current status of comparative education in China. Discusses official policies related to comparative education and national educational development; scholars and institutions involved; research priorities; research methods; dissemination of research findings through journals, books, and lectures; related curriculum in…

This article discusses events that have led to recognition of the need for enhanced human rights education; describes aims and projects of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe; notes establishment of the European Centre for Human Rights Education; and examines possible Nordic…

Discusses a case study of a project created for the U.S. Air Force, Air Combat Command, in which mental models were taught, reinforced, and assessed as the foundation for instruction. Preliminary data for 183 students reflected a 93% mastery level and a 79% cumulative gain in students' ability to troubleshoot difficult problems. (Author/AEF)

Compares educational technology and information systems (IS) and relates the histories of their adoption. Explains IS adoption paradigms, models and frameworks, and suggests similarities and differences between IS adoption/implementation and educational change; and discusses educational change and what can be learned from IS adoption models.…

Individual differences in industriousness are discussed. It is proposed that reinforcement for increased physical or cognitive performance, or the tolerance of aversive stimulation, gives a reward value to the sensation of high effort and reduces effort's aversiveness. Applications for self-control, moral development, and education are described.…

Reviews progress in the establishment of a nonprofit preschool at an orphanage in Bucharest, Romania. Topics include recruitment of volunteers, collection of supplies, integration of neighborhood and orphanage children, the use of Piaget's learning-through-play philosophy, children's responses, staff training, and current activities. (AC)

Examines educational support agencies in Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and England and Wales. Argues that a relationship exists between the organization and the functioning of a country's educational support services, such as curriculum development and school counseling, and the tradition of the education system as expressed in the authority…

The Purpose-in-Life Test was given to 415 college students in developmental reading classes. Results were compared to those of studies from 1968 and 1981 to determine any changes in student feelings of apathy and meaninglessness. Means of all groups were approximately equal, indicating no changes in student apathy since 1968. (SLD)